Photo: Marathon, CC BY-SA 2.014 children's activities at 5 English Heritage places in Kent, in one list, and all 26 places on a map. Entry is free for members at most places; where an activity costs extra, the price is on it.
Walmer Castle and Gardens (English Heritage), Walmer, Deal · 17 October to 1 November 2026
Scarecrows made by local schools, clubs and groups take over the gardens at Walmer for the 2026 trail, themed on myths and legends. Wander the grounds to find them all and vote for your favourite before you leave, with a rosette for the winner.
Walmer Castle and Gardens (English Heritage), Walmer, Deal · 18 October 2026
A guided hour of nature journaling around the gardens for the whole family. Everyone gets a journal full of prompts and questions to fill in as you listen, look, draw or write, and you can finish it at home.
Dover Castle (English Heritage), Dover · 27 October 2026
A free half-term session for young people as part of the Dover Youth Festival. Participants walk the castle's chalk grassland as the seasons turn, then make autumn artwork back in the Education Room.
Rochester Castle (English Heritage), Rochester · 24 October to 1 November 2026
Rats have been helping themselves to medieval food left around Rochester Castle this half-term. Children hunt for each rat, find out its name and work out what it is nibbling, while exploring one of England's tallest Norman keeps.
Dover Castle, Dover · 24 October to 1 November 2026
English Heritage hosts a Great Pumpkin Party at Dover Castle for half-term, with storytelling, games and a themed trail across the site. It is included in normal entry, so you can combine it with the tunnels and the Great Tower.
Walmer Castle and Gardens (English Heritage), Walmer, Deal · 27 October to 29 October 2026
A half-term craft session where children build a small spooky scarecrow, either from ready-cut pieces or from scratch with recycled materials and decorations. It runs on two mornings into the early afternoon.
Walmer Castle and Gardens (English Heritage), Walmer, Deal · 28 October 2026
Children design a Halloween mask for their spooky alter ego, from classic creepy characters to something entirely their own. A drop-in craft session during half-term week.
Walmer Castle and Gardens (English Heritage), Walmer, Deal · 30 October 2026
Pick a Halloween look from a rail of costumes and take spooky family selfies. Two sessions run on the Friday of half-term.
Maison Dieu (English Heritage), Faversham · 31 October 2026
To close its 2026 season, the volunteer-run Maison Dieu museum hides spiders for children to find, with sweet treats as the prize. Along the way you learn how the festival of All Hallows grew from Roman-era roots into modern Halloween.
St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury · 31 October to 1 November 2026
English Heritage runs a Halloween history tour of St Augustine's Abbey as the light fades on the last weekend of half term. The hour-long tour explores the ruins of one of England's oldest monasteries, within Canterbury's World Heritage Site.
Walmer Castle and Gardens (English Heritage), Walmer, Deal · 31 October 2026
Come in costume and go trick or treating around the castle gardens on Halloween morning, collecting sweets from treat stations along the way.
Dover Castle (English Heritage), Dover · 5 December to 20 December 2026
Children meet Father Christmas inside Dover Castle on December weekends and each receives a wrapped present to open. Sessions are timed throughout the day and must be booked ahead. Pair it with exploring the castle, which non-members need a separate admission ticket for.
Dover Castle (English Heritage), Dover · 5 December to 20 December 2026
Seasonal activities across Dover Castle on the four December weekends before Christmas, included in a normal day ticket. You can add a separate ticket to visit Father Christmas on the same days.
Walmer Castle and Gardens (English Heritage), Walmer, Deal · 5 December to 20 December 2026
Seasonal family activities in the gardens at Walmer on the four December weekends before Christmas. It is included in normal entry, and members go free.
Kent places in colour and activities in orange, with Sussex in grey so you can plan further afield. Tap a pin for details and directions.
Castles, abbeys and Roman sites, from staffed days out to free ruins you can wander any time.
Image: Bayham Old AbbeyBayham Old Abbey is a romantic ruin of golden sandstone in the High Weald, right on the Kent and Sussex border near Lamberhurst. Much of the abbey church, the chapter house and a 14th-century gatehouse survive, set in a landscape shaped by Humphry Repton. It is free, peaceful and dog-friendly, and pairs well with nearby Scotney Castle or Bewl Water.
Image: Deal CastleDeal Castle is the most elaborate of Henry VIII's artillery forts, right on the seafront at Deal. Explore the fortress displays, then head into the dark, narrow Rounds passage that circles the base. Displays, audio posts and a graffiti room bring the garrison to life, and children can borrow wooden muskets.
Image: Dover CastleDover Castle sits high above the White Cliffs, with a medieval Great Tower above ground and a network of secret wartime tunnels below. Climb the tower to discover the court of King Henry II, explore the Under Siege exhibition and let children loose in the siege play area. Give it a full day.
Photo: Doyle of London, CC BY-SA 4.0Martello towers were small gun forts built along the south-east coast between 1805 and 1808 against an invasion by Napoleon. The Dymchurch tower has been restored to look as it did, with soldiers' quarters, a storeroom and a 24-pounder gun on the roof. It is right in the village, five minutes' walk from Dymchurch station on the miniature railway.
Photo: Richard Nevell from London, United Kingdom, CC BY-SA 2.0Eynsford Castle is a rare early Norman enclosure castle, protected by a tall curtain wall rather than a keep or motte. A family feud over who inherited it ended in vandalism in 1312, and the castle was left to ruin. Today you can walk inside the surviving walls and the remains of the hall, right in the middle of Eynsford village.
Photo: Doyle of London, CC BY-SA 4.0In a field beside the A2 west of Ospringe stand the low ruins of the Anglo-Saxon and medieval chapel of Stone-next-Faversham. Its walls take in part of a 4th-century Roman mausoleum, which English Heritage says makes it unique among Christian buildings in England. Finds from the Roman cemetery nearby are on show at Maison Dieu, under a mile away.
Horne's Place Chapel is a rare private chapel built in 1366 for William Horne and attached to his timber-framed manor house, which was attacked in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. It stands in a private garden a mile and a half north of Appledore. You can only go in on Heritage Open Days, so plan ahead.
Image: English HeritageKit's Coty House and Little Kit's Coty House are the remains of two Neolithic burial chambers in open fields above the Medway Valley. Kit's Coty still has three uprights topped by a huge capstone, while its smaller neighbour is now a tumble of sarsen stones. It makes a short, free stop for history lovers and walkers on the North Downs Way, and an hour is plenty.
Photo: Colin Park, CC BY-SA 2.0On the Western Heights above Dover lie the low foundations of a small medieval chapel with a round nave, a shape linked to churches built by the Knights Templar. It may instead have been a wayside shrine on the old road to Folkestone. It makes a quick stop on a walk around the Western Heights fortifications.
Image: Lullingstone Roman VillaLullingstone Roman Villa preserves the remains of a Roman country house near Eynsford, displayed under cover so it works in any weather. See its celebrated floor mosaics and finds from Roman Britain, then combine your visit with a walk in the surrounding countryside.
Photo: Roger Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0Maison Dieu began in the 13th century as part of a royal hospital and pilgrims' rest house on Watling Street, the road to Canterbury. The flint and timber-framed building is now a small volunteer-run museum of Roman and Saxon finds from around Ospringe. The 2026 season ends at the end of October.
Image: English HeritageMilton Chantry is all that remains of a 14th century hospital, later used as a pub, a Georgian barracks and a Second World War gas decontamination chamber. Cared for by English Heritage, it now holds items on Gravesend's heritage, including Roman finds. It is a short, free stop on the edge of the town centre for history lovers.
Photo: Marathon, CC BY-SA 2.0Reculver Country Park covers 26 hectares of clifftop grassland on the north Kent coast, dominated by the twin towers of a medieval church inside a Roman fort. Walk or cycle the clifftop towards Herne Bay, take in the views to Margate and explore the towers for free. It suits families, cyclists and dog walkers for an hour or more.
Image: English HeritageThe twin 12th-century towers of Reculver's ruined church stand on the shore near Herne Bay, alongside the remains of an early Roman Saxon Shore fort. Walk around the ruins, and take in the sea views. It suits families, dog walkers and anyone after a free coastal stop of an hour or two.
Image: English HeritageRichborough is where the invading Roman army came ashore in AD 43, and the fort here saw the start, height and end of Roman rule in Britain. Climb the reconstructed timber gateway for views over the site, explore the ruins and museum, and walk out to the amphitheatre earthworks. It suits families and history fans and needs about two hours.
Image: Rochester CastleRochester Castle is an imposing medieval fortress guarding an important crossing of the River Medway, with a complex history of destruction and rebuilding. Climb through the great keep for views over the river and city, then explore the cathedral and historic high street close by. Allow an hour or two.
Image: St Augustine's AbbeyFounded in AD 598, St Augustine's Abbey marks the return of Christianity to southern England and is part of Canterbury's World Heritage Site. Walk the extensive ruins, from the Saxon monastery to the Norman rebuild and the later Tudor royal palace, then visit the site museum. It sits just outside the city walls, a few minutes from the cathedral.
Photo: Simon Burchell, CC BY-SA 4.0This small mid-12th-century building was part of the waterworks that fed St Augustine's Abbey, holding an eight-sided tank that sent water down to the monks through a lead pipe. It sits on a hillside off King's Park, a five to ten minute walk from the abbey. A good add-on for anyone curious about how a medieval monastery worked.
Image: English HeritageSt Augustine's Cross is a 19th-century cross of Saxon design marking the spot where St Augustine is traditionally said to have landed in AD 597. It is a quick, free stop on the way between Thanet and Sandwich. Allow half an hour, or pair it with nearby Richborough Roman Fort.
Photo: Chris Gunns, CC BY-SA 2.0St John's Commandery is the flint chapel and hall of a 13th-century house of the Knights Hospitallers, later turned into a farmhouse. Inside, which you can only see on Heritage Open Days, are a medieval crown-post roof and 16th-century moulded ceilings. Most of the year it is a quiet stop to see from outside.
Photo: Poliphilo, CC0St Leonard's Tower is an early Norman tower keep that still rises almost to its full height on a sandstone ledge outside West Malling. Nobody is sure who built it or why: some credit Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester, others Bishop Odo, half-brother of William the Conqueror. You view it from outside, so pair it with a walk in Manor Park opposite.
Photo: Oast House Archive, CC BY-SA 2.0The ruins of a small 12th-century Norman keep sit on the hillside above Sutton Valence. Simon de Montfort owned it from 1238, before leading the barons' rebellion, and Henry III later gave it to his half-brother William de Valence. It is a short stop, but the view south over the Weald is the reason to climb up.
Image: English HeritageTemple Manor is a 13th-century hall built by the Knights Templar to lodge important travellers on the road between Dover and London. Visits are by appointment, when you can see faint traces of wall paintings in the first floor hall and the leafy garden around it. It suits medieval history fans and takes about an hour.
Image: Upnor CastleUpnor Castle is a rare Elizabethan artillery fort on the Medway, begun in 1559 and rebuilt around 1600 to guard the warships moored off Chatham. It sits in tranquil grounds beside the riverside village of Upper Upnor. Access is by guided tour only, which makes it a quieter, more in-depth visit.
Image: Walmer Castle and GardensWalmer Castle is a Tudor coastal fort near Deal that was later transformed into a residence surrounded by fine gardens. Explore the castle, then the Broad Walk, working kitchen garden, Quarry Garden and contemporary Queen Mother's Garden before tea. It makes a relaxed two to three hours on the coast.
Photo: David Anstiss, CC BY-SA 2.0The Western Heights is a huge network of forts and deep ditches begun in the Napoleonic Wars and finished in the 1860s to stop a French invasion of Dover. English Heritage looks after the Drop Redoubt and North Centre Bastion, which you can see from the paths that criss-cross the hilltop. For a look inside, time your visit with one of the volunteer-led tours.
To Do in Kent is independent and not connected to English Heritage. Activities are checked against English Heritage's own event pages; for membership and opening details see english-heritage.org.uk.
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